Adams-Cheshire District Fixing Water Taps That Tested Positive For Lead
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CHESHIRE, Mass. — Eight plumbing fixtures in the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District have tested positive for actionable levels of lead. All were turned off on Friday.
Faucets and other water fixtures in the three schools in the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District were tested for lead and copper in late December through a state grant.
In a press release Tuesday, interim Superintendent Robert Putnam said that of 654 samples taken, eight exceeded the action level for lead, which is 0.015 milligrams per liter. He said there were no utilities that exceeded the action level for copper, which is 1.3 milligrams per liter.
Putnam said the flagged samples came from a classroom bubbler in C.T. Plunkett Elementary, a sink at Hoosac Valley High School, one classroom bubbler in Cheshire Elementary School and five sink faucets in Cheshire Elementary School.
The faucets and bubblers that exceeded action levels were all turned off on Friday.
The superintendent said the sink at Hoosac Valley was the only utility left on because it is used for cleaning art supplies. It was labeled "Hand Washing Only." Putnam said the Department of Environmental Protection considered that an acceptable remediation
Putnam said the district is in the process of replacing or removing fixtures that exceeded the action levels.
One hundred samples were taken at Cheshire Elementary, 290 samples at C.T. Plunkett, and 264 at Hoosac Valley.
The testing was made possible through a grant from the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, which funded technical support and analysis of the samples.
The $2 million program is a part of a collaboration between the University of Massachusetts and the state DEP to implement the commonwealth's Assistance Program for Lead in School Drinking Water Programs.
Tags: contamination, drinking water,
